AFL 2021 Carlton v North Melbourne: Tarryn Thomas a star on the rise
North Melbourne’s rebuild might have uncovered the game’s next megastar with Tarryn Thomas on the cusp of becoming a bona fide matchwinner.
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Carlton coach David Teague maintains he has “absolute belief” in his playing group despite a horror loss to North Melbourne that slammed the door shut on any slim finals hopes the Blues still held.
In a result that is certain to heap renewed pressure on the coach, amid an external review of the football department, the Blues conceded seven consecutive goals to the bottom-of-the-ladder Kangaroos in a third-quarter rout.
The resulting 39-point loss – which Teague admitted was his side’s worst performance of the season – ensures the Blues will miss finals for an eighth successive year.
Carlton enters the final four rounds of the season with a 7-11 record, after strongly targeting a return to finals this year.
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“To North Melbourne’s credit, their ball use was better than ours,” Teague said.
“Their ability to win the ball back and then go through us I thought was superior to ours. I also thought they got on top in the centre bounce and got the ball going in their half and we had trouble getting it down to our end and then when we did get it down to our end our ability to finish our work and hit the scoreboard wasn’t good enough.
“I thought North Melbourne were just stronger than us. I thought they did the fundamentals, the basics, better than us. Some simple things like spoiling from behind, for whatever reason I thought there was a slight shift in our mindset. We weren’t at our ruthless best.”
Four of North Melbourne’s five goals in the first half originated from the defensive half as the Kangaroos too often waltzed through the middle of the ground with little resistance from Carlton.
Carlton lost the centre clearance count 22-9 and recorded just nine tackles in a third-quarter which Fox Footy commentator Jonathan Brown said was defensively “not up to AFL standard”.
“Only nine tackles in that third quarter. That was disgraceful,” Brown noted.
The seven-goal run from the Kangaroos in the third term was the 21st time that Carlton has conceded a run of five or more unanswered goals under Teague.
“This one was a hard one because we were getting our looks,” Teague said.
“When they got through us they were able to finish their plays and at one stage they’d had nine inside-50s and seven or eight shots. It wasn’t that we weren’t getting it in our half, it was more that we weren’t using it offensively.”
Asked how the result would affect his own position, Teague said he was confident that the Blues remained on the right track.
“I have absolute belief in this group,” he said.
“I believe there’s a lot more. I think we’ve seen some growth over the last period and today was really disappointing because we didn’t follow that trend so that hurts. That hurts the playing group, the coaching staff, our fans.
“We’ve got some work to do. We’re not good enough, clearly, and that’s why we’re not playing finals. But going forward this group can play finals. I’m very confident of that.”
I honestly don't know what's worse.
— Kieran Francis 🇾🇪 (@kieran_francis) July 24, 2021
Thousands of absolute cooked units protesting lockdowns across the country.
Or Carlton.
North fantastic, building beautifully.
— Mark Stevens (@StevoMedia) July 24, 2021
This, though, is an old-fashioned coach killer.
Fear for Teague. This is a stinker.
No way Teague survives this. He’s Gawn.
— Adam Roy Davey (@RoyDT) July 24, 2021
We’ve enough evidence to suggest Teague doesn’t have what it takes to be a senior coach.
— The Ian PrenderCast (@ThePrenderCast) July 24, 2021
He’s consistently out-coached and regularly saved by the efforts of talented individuals who hold whatever the fuck his philosophy/game plan is together.#AFLBluesRoos
The game comes after what had been a positive past month for Carlton, which had kept itself in the finals hunt with three wins from its past four matches.
Compounding the poor performance, Carlton defender Zac Williams was subbed out of the game at halftime with a hamstring injury.
Noble smiling like Cheshire cat over united team
- James Mottershead
David Noble said North Melbourne are driven to avoid the wooden spoon this season after drawing level with Hawthorn on the ladder.
Speaking after his side’s 39-point obliteration of a lacklustre Carlton, Noble said he and his players were desperate to jump off the bottom of the ladder before season’s end.
“I probably don’t need a carrot to not win the wooden spoon,” Noble said.
“I’m pretty motivated when it comes to that, and I think our players are.
Noble said while it had taken his side some time to adjust to a new game plan, they now entered each game with the confidence needed to win.
“There’s no doubt it took us a little while to get going, but it was a whole new game plan for us to how we were defending and how we wanted to create score,” he said.
“We couldn’t get our best team together until the back half of the year, but what it allowed us to do was grow those young guys coming forward. I think now we step into each game for the remaining part of the year with really strong belief on what we can do and deliver based on the wins we’ve had since the bye.”
Tarryn Thomas showed signs he could yet be the best player from the 2018 super draft and one of the AFL’s best players.
The 21-year-old was used more in a midfield-forward role than other games this season, splitting his time 70/30 and spending periods of the game on fellow 2018 draftee Sam Walsh.
Thomas finished with 23 touches, five clearances and a game-high 512m gained, and Noble said the split would be how the Roos use Thomas going forward.
“One of his tasks today was to spend a bit of time with Sam,” he said.
“We wanted to give him that experience to play against another, and other, elite midfielders going forward.
“He can be really good, we’ve loved what he’s done. He’s worked really hard at training and is now putting more time into understanding what midfield roles look like.”
Thomas also kicked four goals, and his ability to impact the game in both areas of the field impressed Noble.
“He’s a young guy learning you’ve got to play the game out for four quarters, but when he went forward today I thought his active movement down there as a forward was really good,” he said.
“It also allows us to do a little bit more with Jed (Anderson) playing forward.”
North Melbourne was able to generate 84 points from turnover against the Blues, a season-high number.
It’s an area of the Roos’ game that has improved in rounds 15-18 and something that had Noble smiling like a Cheshire cat.
“It’s a good indication your team is working really well together,” he said.
“I think it was really connected from back through to mids and forward.
“I felt the second half in particular we probably didn’t have guys that were chasing the ball so to speak, they were just playing their role really well. I think when we do that we’re certainly stronger with how we play.
“It brings a level of predictability as well so the guys up the ground know what’s going to happen with the ball. It was our best game for the year at that element (score from turnovers).”
MATCH REPORT: ROOS EMBARRASS BLUES WITH SECOND-HALF ONSLAUGHT
- James Mottershead
North Melbourne embarrassed Carlton on their way to all but ending the Blues’ season in a 39-point win.
Carlton, sitting just a win outside the top-eight heading into the game at Marvel Stadium, was playing for its season, but could muster little more than a whimper against the bottom-placed Kangaroos.
Nick Larkey towelled Jacob Weitering up, to the point the Carlton vice-captain was moved to the forward line in the last quarter, and Tarryn Thomas showed glimpses to suggest he could be one of the AFL’s best players in the near future.
Larkey finished with seven goals, and Thomas four, while Ben Cunnington ran the show in the middle of the ground.
North Melbourne was able to make the most of their forward-50 entries in the first quarter and took a two-point lead into the first change despite trailing inside-50s 15-7.
Nick Larkey was able to find acres of space on Jacob Weitering and slotted two first-quarter goals.
Carlton looked dangerous going forward but their goal kicking let them down as they sprayed five shots wide of the big sticks.
Ironically in the second quarter, North Melbourne won inside-50s but caught the yips in front of goal, losing the quarter and trailing at halftime by two-points.
Liam Jones, who is showing he may be Carlton’s most reliable defender, collected six intercepts to halftime and proved too much for Tristan Xerri to handle, keeping the key forward to just two touches.
Jaidyn Stephenson was best on ground at the main break with two goals, 285-metres gained and 12 touches, while Tom De Koning continued to show good signs in the ruck and put in a nomination for mark of the round after taking a screamer on the back of Xerri in the Blues’ forward line.
To say the third quarter belonged to North would be an understatement.
The Roos bullied Carlton and made them look like a second-rate outfit with nothing to play for as they piled on seven goals to none for the term.
North Melbourne had 33 more disposals for the quarter but eight more tackles, and Nick Larkey was able to get on the end of the good work, kicking three goals for the quarter.
Carlton showed more fight in the last quarter but were unable to stop the bleeding as the Roos ran out comfortable winners.
THOMAS TALENT
Tarryn Thomas’ season has, in a sense, reflected that of North Melbourne.
The 21-year-old gets better by the week in a midfield-forward role that could easily be a pure midfield role by this time next season.
Thomas could yet be the best draftee from the 2018 class and has all the attributes to be a Dustin Martin type impact midfielder.
Not only did Thomas kick four goals, but finished with five clearances, 23 disposals and 512-metres gained.
Carlton gave Ed Curnow a mini banner for his 200th ðŸ™
— 7AFL (@7AFL) July 24, 2021
(via @CarltonFC)
pic.twitter.com/KPby25m8UE
CURNOW SAVES BEST FOR 200
Playing his 200th game, Ed Curnow saved his best goal for the milestone game.
Carlton had been the best side in the first half, but inaccuracy had cost them as North Melbourne held a slender lead deep into the second term.
Enter Ed Curnow.
The 31-year-old ran onto a ball knocked forward into the Blues’ forward pocket, snatching it away from Zac Fisher as he sped towards the boundary line.
Curnow quickly took the ball from above his head and dropped it onto his left boot, kicking a dribbler from 20-metres out on the boundary line to give Carlton the lead and create a highlight he won’t forget from his milestone match.
SILVAGNI FINDS ROLE
David Teague appears to have found the perfect role for Jack Silvagni between playing high half forward and ruck.
Silvagni made headlines last week for jumping over Collingwood’s Brodie Grundy, and he was at his athletic best again early against the Roos.
After a sluggish start, the 23-year-old was injected into the ruck for the Blues and made his presence felt around the ball with a sublime run-down tackle as North looked to break out of the centre.
Silvagni finished the match with 21 disposals, three clearances and four tackles.
LARK OF A TIME
Nick Larkey must’ve loved every time Jacob Weitering sat 10 metres off him looking to intercept the ball.
Most pundits have Weitering in All-Australian contention, but the 23-year-old Larkey absolutely destroyed the Carlton vice-captain, leading him to the ball time and again on his way to seven goals.
Weitering, who is one of the game’s best intercept defenders, showed how vulnerable he is when isolated on a quality key forward and made to defend, something opposition coaches will surely take notice of.
SCOREBOARD
BLUES 2.5 5.6 5.10 11.11 77
KANGAROOS 3.1 5.4 12.6 18.8 116
MOTTERSHEAD’S BEST Blues: Cripps, Silvagni, Walsh. Kangaroos: Larkey, Thomas, Cunnington, Stephenson, Simpkin, Goldstein, Ziebell.
GOALS Blues: Cripps 3, Kennedy 2, Newnes 2, Owies, Martin, Curnow, Fisher. Kangaroos: Larkey 7, Thomas 4, Stephenson 3, Anderson 2, Goldstein, Zurhaar.
INJURIES Blues: Williams (hamstring). Kangaroos: Phillips (nose).
UMPIRES Haussen, Deboy, Brown.
Marvel Stadium
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
JAMES MOTTERSHEAD’S VOTES
3 Nick Larkey (NM)
2 Tarryn Thomas (NM)
1 Ben Cunnington (NM)
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